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SpaceX AI revenue tops Starlink: $7.56B vs $5.25B in Q3

The Super Intelligence segment became SpaceX's largest business by revenue, but its operating income was $431 million against Starlink's $2.37 billion. It also took about $16.4 billion of a record $19.6 billion in quarterly capital spending.

By Rowan Ashby Published 21.10.26 11:34 UTC 7 min read

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying Starlink satellites lifts off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral — U.S. Space Force photo by Senior Airman Samuel Becker / Wikimedia Commons / Public domain · Source

Key takeaways

SpaceX's Super Intelligence (SI) segment, its AI compute and software business, reported $7.56 billion of third-quarter 2026 revenue. That beat the $5.25 billion from Connectivity, the Starlink business, making it the company's largest segment for the first time.
SI is far less profitable than Starlink. SI operating income was $431 million, a margin of about 5.7%, while Connectivity earned $2.37 billion, a margin of about 45%.
Capital spending reached $19.6 billion in the quarter. About $16.4 billion of that, or roughly 84%, went to the SI segment, mostly for data-center compute.
Management said on the earnings call that it expects fourth-quarter capex of $35 billion to $40 billion as it accelerates its compute build-out.

SpaceX's AI revenue passed Starlink for the first time in the third quarter of 2026. Its Super Intelligence segment, which sells AI compute and software, reported $7.56 billion, against $5.25 billion from Connectivity, the Starlink business, according to an October 20 SEC filing.

Total revenue was $14.58 billion, up 161% from $5.58 billion a year earlier. Operating income was $2.79 billion, compared with an operating loss of $143 million in the second quarter. Fortune described this as the company's first operating profit since it became a public company. Net income was $4.40 billion, which was higher than operating income because of items below the operating line.

The segment mix flips

SpaceX reports three segments: Super Intelligence, Connectivity and Space. SI was previously reported as "Artificial Intelligence." It includes advertising revenue and a larger line the company calls "SI solutions and infrastructure," which covers cloud services agreements and the Grok assistant. Fortune reported that the segment includes compute capacity leased to customers including Anthropic and Google.

SI revenue rose to $7.56 billion from $2.56 billion in the second quarter and $813 million a year earlier. The company attributed the growth to new cloud services agreements, its acquisition of the coding-tools company Cursor, and wider Grok adoption among businesses and consumers. Cursor accounted for part of the jump: according to the filing, it contributed $608 million of revenue between the deal closing on August 14 and the end of the quarter. Without Cursor, SI revenue would have been about $6.95 billion, which is still well above Connectivity.

SpaceX segment results, Q3 2026 vs Q3 2025 (US$ millions)
Segment	Revenue Q3 2026	Revenue Q3 2025	Operating income (loss) Q3 2026	Operating margin Q3 2026*	Capex Q3 2026
Super Intelligence (AI)	7,560	813	431	5.7%	16,444
Connectivity (Starlink)	5,248	3,097	2,367	45.1%	1,543
Space	1,767	1,666	(7)	-0.4%	1,606
Total company	14,575	5,576	2,791	19.1%	19,593

Source: SpaceX Q3 2026 earnings release, Form 8-K exhibit filed with the SEC on October 20, 2026. *Operating margin is Bullquill's calculation from the reported figures.

A thin AI margin next to Starlink's profit engine

SI now brings in the most revenue, but Starlink still produces most of the operating profit. Connectivity operating income rose 99% year on year to $2.37 billion, which is more than five times SI's $431 million. On the earnings call, chief financial officer Bret Johnsen said connectivity gross profit had doubled from a year earlier and that gross margin was 55%. Management said this included a one-time benefit of about three percentage points, mainly from tariff refunds, according to a transcript published by The Motley Fool.

Accounting charges explain part of the gap. SpaceX recorded $1.22 billion of acquisition-related share-based compensation in the quarter, mostly linked to Cursor. The filing puts the value of equity awards tied to post-acquisition service at $23.4 billion, subject to forfeitures, and management said on the call that this cost will be recognized over about three years. If that charge is added back, SI operating profit would have been about $1.65 billion, a margin of roughly 22%. That is still about half of Starlink's margin.

Adjusted EBITDA tells a different story. This measure excludes depreciation and share-based compensation. On that basis, SI reported $4.95 billion, a margin of about 66%, roughly the same as Connectivity's $3.50 billion, or about 67%. The difference between that figure and SI's operating income shows the main cost of the AI business: the GPUs, power and buildings bought with heavy upfront spending, and the depreciation charged on them, together with the cost of stock awards.

Starlink's customer growth was positive but did not match some forecasts. Consumer subscribers grew to 13.6 million from 12.0 million at the end of June. Fortune reported that analysts had expected about 2.29 million net additions, compared with the 1.6 million SpaceX reported. Average monthly revenue per consumer user rose to $69 from $66 in the second quarter. It was $83 a year earlier, when the customer base was smaller and had a different mix.

The connectivity business may also be widening beyond satellite dishes. Bloomberg has since reported that SpaceX is seeking access to at least 80,000 US cell sites, a move that sent Crown Castle shares up and carrier stocks down in extended trading. No contract has been published.

Record spending on AI infrastructure

Capital expenditure was $19.59 billion in the third quarter, up from $18.37 billion in the second quarter and $6.88 billion a year earlier. The SI segment accounted for $16.44 billion, which is more than twice the segment's revenue for the quarter. Connectivity capex was $1.54 billion and Space capex was $1.61 billion, the latter including Starship development.

Over the first nine months of 2026, SpaceX spent $48.07 billion on capital projects. Its operating cash flow over the same period was $13.10 billion. The company is funding the difference from a large balance sheet. At September 30 it held $51.29 billion in cash and cash equivalents plus $38.56 billion in marketable securities, compared with $24.75 billion in cash at the end of 2025.

Most of the money is going into data centers. According to the filing, SpaceX's nameplate compute capacity reached 1.7 gigawatts at September 30, up from 1.4 GW at the end of June and 0.6 GW a year earlier, mainly because of the Colossus II build-out. On the call, management said it expects about 2.2 GW by the end of October and 2.5 to 3 GW by the end of the year. It also guided fourth-quarter capex to between $35 billion and $40 billion, linked to faster compute construction in Memphis, Tennessee, and Southaven, Mississippi.

"At current pricing, new compute deployments are generating a payback of less than a year." Bret Johnsen, SpaceX CFO, on the Q3 2026 earnings call (via The Motley Fool transcript)

Chief executive Elon Musk told analysts he expects demand to stay ahead of supply. "I think we're going to face a shortage of super intelligence compute," he said, according to the same transcript. Management projected total compute of about 13 GW by the end of 2027. Musk described a separate aim of adding about 20 GW of power and cooling in 2027 as a stretch goal.

Space segment and Starship

The Space segment, which includes launch services and Starship, had $1.77 billion of revenue, up 6% from a year earlier. It recorded a small operating loss of $7 million. The filing says Starship Flight 14 was the first orbital Starship flight and the first Starship mission to earn revenue, carrying 26 Starlink V3 satellites. SpaceX did not give a full-year financial forecast in the release.

What it means

The quarter shows SpaceX becoming a company built around AI infrastructure, with satellites and launch alongside it. Three points are worth watching.

How profitable the AI business becomes. SI's adjusted EBITDA margin already matches Starlink's, but its operating margin does not. The gap will depend on how quickly the new hardware loses value, how long customers keep paying current prices for compute, and how the Cursor stock-award expense runs off over the next few years.
Funding the build-out. Fourth-quarter guidance of $35 billion to $40 billion would roughly double the third quarter's record capex. Starlink's growing profit and the company's cash pile currently pay for that expansion, so Starlink's subscriber growth and pricing matter for the AI business as well.
Delivering capacity on schedule. The targets of 2.5 to 3 GW by year-end and much more in 2027 rely on power, cooling and chip supply. Musk's own description of the 2027 power target as a stretch goal suggests there is execution risk.

Several things are still unknown. SpaceX does not report revenue by customer, so it is not clear how much SI revenue comes from a few large cloud contracts or how long those contracts last. The company also has not given a numeric outlook for SI margins.

Frequently asked questions

How much revenue did SpaceX's AI segment make in Q3 2026?

The Super Intelligence segment reported $7.56 billion of revenue in the third quarter of 2026, up from $813 million a year earlier and $2.56 billion in the second quarter, according to SpaceX's earnings release filed with the SEC.

Is the AI business more profitable than Starlink?

No. In Q3 2026 Super Intelligence had operating income of $431 million, a margin of about 5.7%. Connectivity, mainly Starlink, had operating income of $2.37 billion, a margin of about 45%. On an adjusted EBITDA basis, which excludes depreciation and share-based compensation, both segments had margins of roughly two-thirds.

Why is the AI segment's operating margin so low?

Two reasons stand out. SpaceX recorded $1.22 billion of acquisition-related share-based compensation, mostly linked to its Cursor acquisition. The segment also carries heavy costs from the data-center hardware it is buying, and the depreciation on it.

How much is SpaceX spending on AI infrastructure?

Total capital expenditure was $19.59 billion in Q3 2026, of which $16.44 billion was in the Super Intelligence segment. On the earnings call, management guided fourth-quarter capex to between $35 billion and $40 billion.